In recent years, with spreading of smart meters, functions of providing total power consumption values (instantaneous values or the like) in predetermined monitoring units (electrical device groups consuming power in each household, each company, one floor of a building, or the like) to users have been standardized. By providing not only the total power consumption values in the predetermined monitoring units but also power consumption values (instantaneous values or the like) of respective electrical devices included in the predetermined monitoring unit, more precise energy saving measures are expected to be stimulated.
Power consumption of an individual electrical device can be ascertained, for example, by mounting a measuring instrument on each electrical device. However, in the case of this technique, a work burden of mounting a measuring instrument on each electrical device is considerable. Further, a cost burden increases since the number of measurement instruments increases with an increase in the number of electrical devices.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for installing a measuring instrument in a power trunk line portion such as a power-feeding service entrance or a distribution board and inferring an operation state of each electrical device using measurement data (a total current consumption waveform or the like) measured with the measuring instrument. In the technology, a feature amount (training feature amount) at the time of operation of each electrical device and a feature amount (training feature amount) at the time of operation of the plurality of electrical devices are prepared in advance. Then, based on feature amounts extracted from the measurement data measured in the power trunk line portion and the training feature amounts prepared in advance, an operation state of each electrical device is inferred.
Patent Document 2 discloses a technology for generating a training feature amount indicating a feature amount at the time of operation of each electrical device. Specifically, pieces of predetermined data (current consumption or the like) are individually measured by operating electrical devices in a house to be measured one by one. A feature amount is extracted from the measured data of each of the electrical devices and the extracted feature amount is stored as a training feature amount.
Related technologies are disclosed in Patent Documents 3 and 4.
Patent Document 3 discloses a technology for inferring operation states of electrical devices using feature amount information of electrical devices open to the public and existing on a network. For example, it is disclosed that manufacturers or sellers of the electronic devices opens feature amount information of electrical devices to the public on networks in advance.
Patent Document 4 discloses a technology for inferring operation situations of electrical devices with high precision even when voltage waveforms applied to the electrical devices vary. According to this technology, an operation situation of an electrical device is inferred using data of a predetermined section other than a section in which a variation in a harmonic current with respect to a variation in a power-supply voltage is greater than a standard.